A day after BCCI president Sourav Ganguly revealed that the Asia Cup has been cancelled for this year, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) released an official statement confirming the development, postponing the biennial event to next year in June.
The 2020 edition was to be held in the United Arab Emirates with Pakistan as hosts. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament has been delayed.
“The Executive Board of the ACC has met on multiple occasions to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Asia Cup tournament scheduled in September 2020,” ACC said in a media release on Thursday.
“From the onset, the Board was keen on organising the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, a threat to fundamental health and social distancing mandates have posed substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup.”
“Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff, commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant. Accordingly, the Board, after careful consideration of all the above factors, has determined that the Asia Cup 2020 be postponed,” it added.
The previous edition of the continental tournament was also held in the UAE in 2018.
A meeting in June resulted in the possibility of Sri Lanka hosting the event but with the coronavirus situation worsening, ACC has decided to look for a new window.
“Conducting the event in a responsible manner remains the priority of the ACC and the Board is hopeful that the tournament will be held in 2021. The ACC is currently working towards securing June 2021 as a suitable window for the same,” the statement read.
The next edition, possibly in June 2021, will now be held in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has exchanged the hosting rights with their Sri Lankan counterpart meaning they will organise the event in 2022.
“It may also be noted that the hosts for the Asia Cup 2020, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), have exchanged hosting rights for the tournament with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Through this arrangement, The SLC will now host the rescheduled Asia Cup expected in June 2021 while the PCB will host the Asia Cup 2022,” ACC said.
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